Souithern Connecticut Hosting NCAA Division II Regional

Mike Anthony, manthony@courant.com

Southern Connecticut won its first conference championship with a 73-71 victory over New Haven Saturday in the Northeast-10 championship game at Moore Field House. Senior Greg Langston’s three-pointer with 6.5 seconds remaining pushed the Owls to a program-record 16th victory in a row.

Southern (27-2), in the Division II NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2000, has earned the right to remain home as one of eight regional hosts. The top-seeded Owls open Saturday against No. 8 Bridgeport (18-10). If the bracket holds, Southern will have a rematch with No. 2 New Haven in round-of-16 game for the right to advance to the Elite Eight in Evansville, Ind.

National quarterfinals and semifinals are March 26-27 and the championship game March 29.

First-round games are Saturday. Second-round games are Sunday and the regional final is Tuesday. All games are at Moore.

Langston, of Stratford, averages team-highs of 20.2 points and 6.5 rebounds. Southern junior guard Tylon Smith, of Manchester, is averaging 18.3 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.8 assists. Smith had 22 points, four rebounds and seven assists in the NE-10 championship game and was named tournament MVP. Southern had never won a game in the tournament prior to this season's run.

Southern is No. 4 in the most recent National Association of Basketball Coaches poll, matching its highest-ever ranking. Metropolitan State (Colo.) is first, East Stroudsburg (Pa.) is second and Tarleton State (Tex.) is third.